Racing Heroes – Niki Lauda

On August 1, 1976, while driving for Scuderia Ferrari in the German Grand Prix, Niki Lauda’s Ferrari 312T2 exited the Nuerburgring circuit just before the Bergwerk corner, perhaps due to a rear suspension component failure. After striking an embankment, Lauda’s Ferrari, already on fire, returned to the racing surface where it was struck by a Surtees-Ford driven by Brett Lunger. In a surprising feat of heroism, a corner marshal and four drivers who climbed from their cars (including Lunger, Harald Ertl, Arturo Merzario and Guy Edwards) pulled Lauda from the flaming wreckage. They were successful, but not before Lauda suffered life-threatening burns to his lungs and face.

Though Lauda was reportedly conscious following the crash, his injuries were so extensive that the driver quickly lapsed into a coma. At the hospital, a priest was called to administer last rites, and few believed that the damage to Lauda’s lungs (caused by the inhalation of hot, toxic gases) would be repairable. If the Austrian driver did manage to survive these injuries, he still had second- and third-degree burns and the ever-present risk of infection to contend with. By the most optimistic of projections, Lauda was facing many months of recovery, assuming he survived at all.

Forty-three days later, defying all odds, Lauda climbed back behind the wheel of a Ferrari 312T2 at the Italian Grand Prix. Accounts of the day stated that blood was still weeping from bandages on his head, and that reconstructive surgeries to rebuild his right ear and right eyelid were still pending. Despite this, Lauda qualified fifth on the grid (two positions above his “replacement” at Ferrari, Carlos Reutemann, and four positions above his teammate, Clay Regazzoni) and ended the race in fourth position.

Perhaps more than Lauda’s 25 Formula 1 victories and three series championships, his recovery from near-fatal injuries during the 1976 season paints the picture of Niki Lauda the man and Niki Lauda the driver. Supremely talented and even more headstrong, Lauda always seemed to be struggling with something throughout his career, perhaps shaping his will to compete and his drive to win.

Born into a wealthy Austrian family in February of 1949, Lauda’s decision to begin racing cars was frowned upon, particularly by his grandfather. Progressing through the ranks from racing sedans to racing Formula Vees to racing sports cars, Lauda uncovered an opportunity to join the March Formula 2 team in 1971. There was, however, a catch: To get a seat, Lauda would need to bring sponsorship money with him, and a deal was quickly cut with an Austrian bank. Lauda’s grandfather soon opposed the deal, prompting the bank to withdraw its funding for Lauda’s blossoming career. In a supreme act of defiance, Lauda approached a second bank, taking a loan against his life insurance policy to produce the funding required to join the team.

By 1972, Lauda was driving for March in both Formula 2 and Formula 1, but only the team’s Formula 2 squad proved competitive. To advance his career, Lauda realized that a change in teams would be necessary, so he once again sought a bank loan to buy his way onto the BRM Formula 1 team. Though Lauda’s fortunes improved at BRM in 1973, where he scored two championship points compared to none with March in 1972, his fortunes changed when BRM teammate Clay Regazzoni re-upped with Ferrari for the 1974 season. Regazzoni spoke highly of Lauda, prompting the team to invite Lauda to Maranello.

As Lauda recently recounted to Top Gear, Enzo Ferrari himself extended an offer for Lauda to drive with Scuderia Ferrari, telling Lauda “you are an unknown and nobody knows why you are so fast.” Hardly negotiating from a position of strength, Lauda accepted an offer that amounted to the modern equivalent of roughly $66,000 per season, and his first race with Ferrari was the 1974 season-opening Argentine Grand Prix. Lauda would finish fourth in the standings that season behind Regazzoni, Jody Scheckter, and Emerson Fittipaldi, but his six consecutive pole positions would speak of things to come in 1975.

Though the year began with underwhelming results in Argentina, Brazil and South Africa, Lauda captured his first pole of the year in Spain. A collision at the start of the race ended Lauda’s day before the first corner, but his fortunes would change dramatically in Monaco, where Lauda would kick off a three-race winning streak. In the seven races that followed, Lauda scored two more victories and an additional three podium finishes, easily capturing his first F1 championship.

In the races leading up to Lauda’s 1976 crash at the Nürburgring, the Ferrari driver appeared poised to capture his second championship. The aftermath of the accident would also see the initial souring of Lauda’s relationship with Ferrari; literally giving him up for dead, Ferrari recruited Reutemann to replace Lauda for the remainder of the season. When Lauda announced his return to the cockpit at Monza, the team initially seemed indifferent about giving him a car to drive. Things would go from bad to worse at the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix: Still in contention for the championship, Lauda parked his Ferarri when the FIA failed to red-flag the race, held in a torrential downpour. Lauda’s safety protest handed the 1976 championship to James Hunt, prompting many fans to call for Lauda’s dismissal; some even went so far as to call Lauda a coward, despite the fact that the Austrian driver was back in the cockpit, as fast as ever, just six weeks after suffering his horrific crash.

The following season, 1977, dawned with Lauda being told he’d be second in the pecking order to Reutemann. At pre-season testing, Lauda was instructed to test brake pads while Reutemann tested tires, at least until Lauda threatened to walk away from his contract and join the McLaren F1 team. When the team relented, Lauda showed his merit by turning a quicker time in three laps than Reutemann had turned in a week of testing. Still, the writing was on the wall, and after clinching his second championship at the Italian Grand Prix, Lauda walked away from the team to sit out the season’s two remaining races.

Lauda would race for the Brabham Alfa-Romeo team in 1978 and 1979, but would finish fourth in the points the first year and 14th the following year. Frustrated with the team’s results, Lauda retired from F1 before the end of the 1979 season, preferring to spend his time running charter airline Lauda Air. His departure from the sport would be short-lived, however, as 1982 saw him return to the cockpit for McLaren. He’d drive for the team an additional three seasons, capturing his third world championship (by a mere half a point over Alain Prost) in 1984.

It’s all but impossible to recount Lauda’s successes, both on and off the track, in a single, brief article. In business, as well as in racing, Lauda is widely regarded as a man unafraid to tackle a new challenge, regardless of how daunting it may seem, and utterly uncompromising on his principles. Still active in motorsports, today Lauda serves as the non-executive chairman of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team’s board of directors, which may help account for the team’s remarkable progress during the 2013 season. Regardless of later achievements, Lauda will always be best remembered for his almost superhuman recovery and return to the highest levels of motor racing during the 1976 season.

September 13, 2013 12:18 am

Steve Strietersays:

September 10, 2013 12:22 pm

When one looks at Lauda’s will & drive, it becomes apparent that not only does he have – as David Hobbs would say – huge clanking attachments, but that nobody – even Death – tells him what to do. His level of mental strength is astounding.

VintageEngrsays:

September 10, 2013 1:56 pm

George Allegrezzasays:

September 10, 2013 2:36 pm

He also stared down Boeing after the loss of a Lauda Air 767 in Thailand, essentially forcing them to admit that electronically-controlled thrust reversers could accidentally deploy in flight and the the event was essentially unsurvivable.

Danthemansays:

September 12, 2013 10:53 pm

I thought Lauda took the championship in ’76.
I was at Watkins Glen that year, as I remember it basically he had to finish well and he clinched the title,
James Hunt won Nikki was second.
Sneaking into the pits (because the weather was to lousy for security to do their job) I saw him up close, he acted like he was 100%.

928'ersays:

September 13, 2013 3:28 pm

Actually, Ferrari took the manufacturer’s championship, but Lauda lost the driver’s championship to Hunt by a single point at the last race of the season in Japan. It was bucketing down rain and Lauda (along with several other drivers) considered the conditions to dangerous to continue. Lauda parked the Ferrari and Hunt went on to finish 3rd, giving him the championship by one point.